British troops 'going into combat in foreign helicopters'

British troops have flown into combat against the Taliban in Afghanistan in
American helicopters, it has emerged.

British troops in AfghanistanPhoto: Reuters

By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent

7:00AM BST 20 Jul 2009

As the row over the support available to British forces fighting in Helmand Province deepened, David Cameron, the Conservative leader, described the Government's failure to supply more helicopters as a "scandal".

John Hutton, the former defence secretary, became the latest leading player to be criticised by the Government after raising concerns over the plight of those serving on the frontline.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Head of the Army, pulled out of a planned television appearance after a week of briefing and counter-briefing between senior military figures and Labour ministers.

It followed a bitter war of words over the need for more resources.

The Daily Telegraph understands that American Chinooks were used for a combat mission as part of the Panther's Claw operation within the last month.

He said: "We've conducted two aerial assaults using the coalition helicopters because the helicopters are pooled into a coalition.

"Using British, American, Dutch, Australian, whatever the helicopter origin may be, we've used them very successfully to seize areas of ground.

"We're operating as a coalition. We're making progress."

His insistence that troops were not dying as a result of a lack of air support has been extensively quoted by Gordon Brown.

Ministers insist that there is nothing unusual about the sharing of helicopters within the Nato coalition in Afghanistan.

But the disclosure that strapped British troops had been forced to use coalition helicopters for combat operations came after it emerged the Military of Defence had been forced to rely on civilian Mi-8 and Mi26 transport helicopters, piloted by freelance Russians and Ukrainians, to ferry supplies.

The MoD also confirmed it had twice in the past three years been offered a deal to purchase US-made Sikorsky helicopters but decided to continue with plans involving British firms.

Had the deal been agreed, nearly half of the helicopters would have been delivered in 2008 and the remainder by the end of this year.

As recently as last week, Quentin Davies, the Defence Procurement Minister, is said to have written to Sikorsky rejecting a new proposal for 60 Black Hawk helicopters to be delivered between 2010 and 2013.

The MoD said that the decision had been made to press on instead with a £400 million refit of 33 existing Puma helicopters by the British-based Eurocopter, to avoid "a capability gap placing unacceptable risk on operational commitments''.

Mr Cameron accused ministers of a lack of commitment to ensuring soldiers serving in Afghanistan were properly equipped.

He said: "It is a scandal and we have been warning about it for three years. Of course it is partly about money, but a lot of it is really about commitment.

"If three years ago, the Government had really put its shoulder to the wheel, it could have delivered more helicopters.

"What is required is commitment and focus, frankly, that hasn't been there for the last three years and we have got to see urgent action by the Government.''

He was speaking after Mr Hutton added to the calls for more resources for Afghanistan following the heavy British death toll there in recent week.

He told the The Sunday Telegraph: "It is clear we need more logistical support to reduce the risk of as much of the troop movements and supply effort as possible.''

Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, hit back at his former colleague, saying that Mr Hutton had been in Cabinet when key decisions on Afghanistan were taken.

He added that the MP would probably not be aware of current discussions within the coalition on plans for the coming months - and held out the prospect that more troops could be sent to the region to help train the Afghani forces.

Asked whether British troops were dying as a result of a shortage of helicopters, Lord Mandelson said: "I firmly believe that is not the case.''

Meanwhile, Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, urged Mr Brown and western leaders to enter into talks with the Taliban.

He said: "Military operations are no longer enough. We have to re-think the way we do things - without that there won't be any improvements.

"We must engage in negotiations, bring back those Taliban who are willing to return, who have been driven out by fear and coercion and the mistakes we've all made. They are part of this country and must be called back."